Vietnam fines TikTokker US$300 for video suggesting Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is in Thailand

Content creator Hua Quoc Anh was penalised for posting ‘false information’ on the popular short-video app. The now-deleted video, with overlaid images of the Thai flag and royalty, was shared last November.

Vietnamese authorities fined a man US$300 after he posted a TikTok suggesting that Angkor Wat, an ancient temple complex in Cambodia, was located in Thailand, the state-owned media outlet Lao Dong reported in Vietnamese.

Hua Quoc Anh, a Vietnamese make-up artist and content creator, posted a TikTok of his photo shoot at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the second-largest city in Cambodia.

The video, with overlaid images of the Thai flag and royalty, was posted on November 4, per Lao Dong. The phrase “Hello, Thailand” could also be heard in the video, per the report. The video has since been deleted, the report said. Business Insider saw a screenshot of the video, but did not watch the TikTok before it was deleted.

On Wednesday, the Vietnamese government charged Quoc Anh with providing “false information” and “insulting the reputation of agencies and organisations, honour and dignity of individuals,” per Lao Dong. He was fined 7.5 million Vietnamese dong (US$300), per the statement.

The Vietnamese government said Quoc Anh was required to “strictly comply with relevant legal regulations when using the internet” and had to use it in a “responsible, civilised, progressive” manner, per Lao Dong. Vietnam’s Department of Information and Communication did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

“Right now, Quoc Anh has too many emotions in his heart that cannot be described in a few lines of text,” Quoc Anh wrote in Vietnamese in a Facebook post on Wednesday, adding that he was “safe” after meeting with authorities.

In the same post, he included a photo of himself outside Vietnam’s Department of Information and Communication in the capital Ho Chi Minh City. Quoc Anh did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Quoc Anh, who has over 250,000 followers on Facebook and over 700,000 followers on TikTok, frequently shares posts of his travels and photoshoots abroad.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told the Japanese newspaper Nikkei that the incident was “ridiculous.”

“No one really believes that Siem Reap belongs to Thailand,” Robertson said. “So the appropriate step would have been to laugh at this social influencer’s ignorance rather than resort to criminal penalties,” he added.

It’s not the first time authorities in Southeast Asia have charged people over videos posted on social media platforms.

In September, Indonesia sentenced a woman to two years in jail after she posted a video saying an Islamic phrase and eating pork on TikTok. In November, a woman in Singapore was sentenced to a week in jail after she posted videos on TikTok of her fiancé at a police station.

By Marielle Descalsota – Business Insider – January 5, 2024